Posts Tagged ‘University of Kansas’

November marks the start of the college basketball season, and, it did not take the Spartans of Michigan State University (#2 in the preseason poll) very long to take on the top-ranked team in the nation. They met the Wildcats of Kentucky (#1) last night (their second game of the season, Kentucky’s third) in an early season match-up of powerhouses. And, the Spartans came out on top by four points. The Spartans never trailed in the contest; their largest lead was 14 points in the first half. But Kentucky came back in the second half to tie the score at 66 around the 4:30 mark, but Michigan State went on another short spurt and closed out the game. The second game of the evening matched Duke (#4) against Kansas (#5) in another powerhouse game of top-5 teams. This game proved to be a see-saw battle for the entire game with the Jayhawks coming out on top at the end. Woohoo, I love college basketball! Next up for the Spartans: the Columbia Lions on Friday . . . Go Green!

The Big Ten Conference seems to have some worthy competition again this year (though perhaps a tad bit less than last year); three other Big Ten teams made the latest AP poll: Michigan (#7), Ohio State (#10), and Wisconsin (#20). Is it March yet?

The upsets among the top-25 this week included:
Kentucky (#1) losing to Michigan State (#2) by four points.
Duke (#4) losing to Kansas (#5).
Florida (#11) losing to Wisconsin (#20) by six (6) points.

The close calls (wins by six points or less [two scores]) among the top-25 this week included:
Connecticut (#18) defeating unranked Maryland by only one (1) point.
UCLA (#22) defeating unranked Drexel by five (5) points.
Baylor (#23) defeating unranked South Carolina by only two (2) points.

The losses to higher-ranked teams among the top-25 this week included:
Virginia Commonwealth (#14) defeating Virginia (#25) by four (4) points.

Now that the college football seasons has come to a close, except for the bowl games of course, it is time to turn my attention to the BEST college sport in the world — basketball, and the road to the Final Four and March Madness! Michigan State will be rebuilding this year and are not currently ranked, but they are still a Tom Izzo coached team, so you can never count them out of the mix. Rah! Go Green! In their preseason, the Spartans have already played, and lost, to North Carolina and Duke, both of whom were ranked in the top-10, to start the season 0-2. But the Spartans have gone on a 8-game winning streak and faced another ranked opponent last night (#22 Gonzaga). They were on the road (in Spokane) and managed to end the game with a “W.” Way to go Green!

There were 11 undefeated teams in the top-25 at the start of the weekend, but after today, there are only 8 left. Losing their first games of the season: Kentucky (#1) losing to unranked Indiana, Ohio State University (#2) losing to Kansas (#13), and Creighton (#17) losing to unranked St. Josephs.

I think it is just the nature of college sports that on any given day, any team can defeat any other team. Rankings don’t always mean anything; you’ve still got to execute. This means you’ve got to hit your shots (including free throws), you’ve got to minimize your mistakes (turnovers, fouls, etc.), and you’ve got to prevent the other team from scoring.

Michigan State managed to win easily today (Prairie View A&M) even without their head coach, Tom Izzo, who was serving a one game suspension for some sort of secondary NCAA rule violation (read the story here). The Spartans last pre-season test will come this Wednesday against the #25 ranked Texas Longhorns (even though I really like the color orange, this is one of those “Go Green” moments) — then it is on to the Big Ten Conference schedule which will be no cake walk.

Some of the notable “upsets” this week (so far) include #6 Kansas State (lost to #24 Florida), #9 Baylor (lost to unranked Gonzaga), #14 Illinois (lost to unranked University of Illinois, Chicago), and #18 BYU (lost to unranked UCLA). There were a couple of close calls as well as #3 Kansas barely escapes against Southern Cal and #25 Texas survives against North Carolina.

Professional baseball is winding down, college and professional football are in full swing, hockey is just getting started, professional basketball has begun, and college basketball is right around the corner. Yep, the college basketball pre-season poll has been released . . . which means . . . March is just around the corner! And, it is not even November yet !

The Kansas Jayhawks have been awarded the #1 position atop the poll [no pressure] followed by the Michigan State Spartans at #2, the Texas Longhorns at #3, the North Carolina Tar Heels at #4, and the University of Kentucky Wildcats at #5. Of course, being #1 in November does not mean nearly as much as being #1 in March . . . it will be interesting to see how the season plays out. High expectations abound in the hopes, desires, and dreams of many teams I’m sure.

The rest of the top ten include the Villanova Wildcats (#6), the Purdue Boilermakers (#7), the Duke Blue Devils (#8), the West Virginia Mountaineers (#9), and the Butler Bulldogs (#10).

The non-conference season begins in two-weeks . . . First up for the Spartan on November 13th, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Let the Madness begin!

Go Green! All of the top seeds (#1s and #2s) won today and the Elite Eight are now set. Added to the group are: Louisville, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Michigan State. The irony: I was unable to actually watch the game. It sounded like a great game (but I would have been pulling my hair out — the Spartans trailed for most of the game).

Final count: all four number one seeds, two number two seeds, and two number three seeds. No Cinderellas remain. Four teams from the Big East, two from the Big Twelve, and one each from the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Big Ten.

What a great way to start the weekend. By the end of this weekend, we will have the Final Four! Next up for Michigan State: the Louisville Cardinals.

As the Madness continues . . . in today’s action, both #1 seeds won (UConn and Pittsburgh — both from the Big East Conference) and both #3 seeds won (Missouri and Villinova — one from the Big Twelve Conference and yet another from the Big East Conference). Both #2 seeds lost today (Duke and Memphis). Hopefully this trend will not carry over into tomorrow evening’s games (the #2 Spartans are in action against the #3 Kansas Jayhawks).

Time will tell. Keep the faith and Go Green!

And with Louisville (a #1 seed) and Syracuse (a #3 seed) yet to play . . . there’s a possibility that up to five of the final Elite Eight teams could be from the powerhouse Big East conference . . . hold on to your seats folks, this is getting interesting indeed.

Okay, the last eight teams have made it to the Sweet Sixteen! The field is complete! Congratulations to: Louisville, Syracuse, Xavier, Kansas, Arizona, Pittsburgh, Missouri, and yes, MICHIGAN STATE! Go Green! Many close games today (nail biters to say the least). Most of the top seeds made it through to this point . . . the only exception today, Arizona (originally a #12 seed) — Cindarella is still dancing!

With all of these top seeds making it through to the Sweet Sixteen, should set up some excellent games next week.

Up next for the Spartans . . . the Kansas Jayhawks (whom the Spartans defeated back in early January) . . . stay tuned, the madness continues.